Pulse
by FantasiiBubbles
Summary: She entered high school with a fresh start in mind, but of course, nothing ever goes according to plan. Familiar and new faces throw themselves in her line of vision and she can't decide what she wants anymore. Miyuki Kazuya x OC
1. Chapter 1

_ What am I doing here?_

Rin sighed quietly and dropped her head to her propped hands.

The bell just rang and everyone was already packing up. All her classmates were chatting with friends about where to hang out, or what extra-curricular activities they were heading to. Meanwhile, Rin was still in her seat, staring at the clock like she has been doing during the entire day.

It's been a few months since her first day of high school, and honestly, she found it wasn't so different from junior high or elementary. Now she's wondering why people made such a big deal about it.

Maybe it's the fact that she still hasn't chosen a club, which she is constantly reminded of by her friends and family. But she can't deny that they were right. Even she knows she can't go through all three years of school without participating in anything; it would look bad when she starts applying for college.

"Seriously, what the hell am I doing?" Rin muttered, but then a hand on her shoulder brought her back from her glaring contest with the clock.

"Um, Rin-chan? We're the only ones left…" Haruno gave her friend a gentle smile, which was returned with a spaced out expression. "And you were talking to yourself again," she added with a giggle.

Rin gave her a fake pout before glancing around the room to confirm everyone was indeed gone. "I was having a nice conversation with myself too before you interrupted," she stuck her tongue out childishly while entering the near empty hallway beside Haruno.

Even though Rin didn't participate in any school related, she was still able to make some friends and got along with the people she met. Haruno once mentioned it was her "natural ability to attract people", while Rin stared at her like she grown another head.

"If I didn't stop you, you would've burned a hole in that poor clock and then no one will ever know the time in class," Haruno teased.

Rin only gave her a deadpan look in return, "Hah, you're funny. Aren't you going to be late for… whatever it is you do afterschool?"

"_Rin-chan_," Haruno stressed the syllables in her name for extra emphasis. "I've told you a million times what I do. Baseball! I'm in the baseball club!"

"Oh? They have baseball for girls now? I thought there was only softball…"

"Rin!"

"I'm messing with you, _manager-chan_" Rin said to prove she didn't really forget, and laughed at Haruno's pouting face, glad that she could bring out a different side of her friend.

"You're lucky I'm used to you…" Haruno muttered before smiling again. "I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come watch practice. The team's working really hard to get to nationals this year!"

Rin tapped her chin in thought, "Baseball… Hm, I haven't watched a game since middle school. I guess it couldn't hurt. Are they good?"

"Rin-chan, Seido is known for its baseball team!" Haruno could only gape at her friend. How could she attend Seido High and not know?

"Heh heh, sorry Haruno. I don't pay attention to these things."

"Did you even do your research when you were choosing a high school?"

"Nope, I just picked the one closest to my home," Rin grinned while giving the peace sign with her hand. "So how are you doing as a manager?"

Haruno looked away bashfully with a light pink grazing over her cheeks. "I still mess up sometimes… and my senpai scolds me for that often… b-but I'm still working hard towards my goal!" She exclaimed.

Rin didn't say anything. Instead, she gave her an encouraging smile and a nudge on her side, which is all her friend needed. Haruno grinned back before they continued walking and chatting.

When they finally arrived to the baseball field, Haruno mumbled something about being late and scampered off in the direction of the other managers, which left Rin by herself. It seems practice had already started as she watched the boys run through the field. "She wasn't kidding about this school being known for its baseball team," she sighed, looking around. There were many of people standing around the fence like she was. Most of them were students of the school, and the rest were former players on the team, reporters, or scouts. Since there were so many people, the noise level was quite high. Not only were the players loud, but the onlookers were cheering for encouragement as well.

As loud as they were, there was one distinct voice she could hear above the rest. "Oh? It's that Sawamura guy from class. I can recognize his voice from anywhere." Rin started following the sound of his voice, curious what he could be yelling about this time, though she wouldn't be surprised if he was yelling about nothing at all. After sitting next to him for the past couple of months, she has gotten used to his behavior.

"Ah, found him."

She watched as he ran around the second field with a tire tied around his waist, and chasing after Furuya who was also running with a tire. Though Furuya was ahead of Sawamura, and that's what's causing the shorter boy's outburst.

"Furuya, don't run in front of me!"

Furuya ignored him and it fueled his outrage even more, which only entertained Rin, so she decided to watch a little longer.

"Are you interested?" A soothing voice spoke up behind her, catching her off guard.

"They amuse me," she answered and turned around to glance at the owner of the voice.

He was much taller and the sun was in a perfect position to blind her, so she had to take a step back to see him face. When her eyes finally met his, she had to blink and look again to make sure she wasn't imagining him.

"Chris-senpai?! What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed. Her flabbergasted expression only made him chuckle.

"I'm participating in my afterschool activity. I think the real question is: What are _you_ doing here? Did you decide to follow me to Seido?" Chris mussed Rin's hair, to which she grumbled at.

"I didn't even know you attended this school," she knocked his hand away before fixing her hair. "If I had known, I would've come to watch practice a long time ago. Are you still a catcher? You better be a regular!"

Chris smiled down at the younger female who was still rambling. Before he could respond to any of it, Sawamura spotted him and rushed towards him, tire still attached.

"Chris-senpai! Please catch my pitch!" He screamed and bowed before noticing his classmate was there too. "Hm? Rin-san? What are you doing here?" Then he looked back and forth between the two. "You know each other?"

"We're acquaintances," Rin responded.

"That's all we are? I'm kind of offended," Chris said teasingly which earned him a glare. "She was the manager of the baseball team back in our junior high, though we only worked together for one year since I graduated afterwards."

"So does that mean you're going to be a manager for our team now?" Sawamura curiously asked.

Rin quickly shook her head and held up her hands as her classmate leaned in closer, "No, I only came to watch today because Haruno invited me. I didn't know Chris-senpai was on the team or even attended this school."

The boy only tilts his head in confusion, "Why not?"

"W-Well, you already have four managers. Plus, I became manager by accident back then-"

"Yet, I heard you stayed manager for the team even after your first year." Chris smirked at Rin's excuses while she gave him a glare.

Rin glanced at Chris up and down, "Hey, why aren't you in the baseball uniform?"

It was obvious the two males stiffened up and she narrowed her eyes, silently demanding an answer.

* * *

Sawamura had left to go back to practice (and chase down Furuya), and Chris led Rin to the dugout to explain his situation while completing his duties at the same time.

"So you're not going to play even though it's your third year?" Rin asked quietly, swinging her legs back and forth while sipping on her drink. Her eyes unconsciously traveled to his shoulder where he had the injury she just learned about.

"I'm more than satisfied with helping the team from here," he replied, waving his notebook to show his point. "Though I will admit you were much better at this than I am," he gave her a knowing glance.

Rin scowled, "If you're trying to sweet talk me into being manager, it's not working."

He smiled. "I'm only being honest. Did you not have fun back then?"

She turned to look at the players while swinging her legs again. After a while of being in thought, the slightest smile graced her face, "Yeah, I did have fun. It was fun watching everyone improve while knowing I had a part in that, and it was even more fun when we won…" She trailed off as she remembered the past three years.

It was completely silent between them as they watched the first-string having a practice match with the second-string. Rin's eyes darted rapidly across the field, capturing each player's movement, and not missing a single step made by them. This didn't go unnoticed by Chris as he opened a blank page of his notebook and slid it over to her along with his pen, "For old times' sake?"

Rin sighed and set her drink on the small table in front of them, "Fine. Just this once, and then I'm completely done with anything baseball or manager related for the rest of my life."

Her hand immediately flew all over the page as all sorts of words, numbers, and pictures appeared. "I don't know all their names, so I'll just describe them and hopefully you know who I'm talking about," she mumbled.

Chris nodded his head in approval, but Rin was already too focused on her work to notice if he even agreed or not. Her eyes flitted back and forth between the players and her notes, while her hands never paused from writing to flipping pages around.

* * *

With a sigh, Rin closed the notebook and handed it back to its owner. "There! Now from this moment forward, I'm done with anything manager or sports related."

Practice had just ended which meant Rin's job was done too. As the team began running laps for their cool down, she had gathered her belongings and prepared to take her leave.

"Thorough as always," Chris stated as he skimmed through her notes. "You nearly took up half the notebook."

She only shrugged, "There was a lot to cover. Well, I'll be going now if you don't mind. The sun's setting and I'd rather not walk home in the dark."

As she was nearly out the gate, Chris stood up to call out to her, "You should come by again and help some time."

"Screw you; you're just trying to trick me into staying!" She yelled before sprinting off, though a smile was on her face. "It's how you tricked me into being manager in junior high too," she said to herself as she slowed down to walk the rest of the way home.

"Is Rin-san just now leaving?" Sawamura asked as he arrived at the dugout along with the rest of the team. They all looked at the gate where her small form was just almost out of sight.

"Hey Chris-senpai, what were you guys talking about?"

"First-string, let's gather in the meeting room tonight. I have some things to discuss with all of you." The team all gave each other questioning looks, but agreed anyways. He is their trusted manager and teammate after all.

After their evening routine of bathing the sweat and dirt away, and scarfing down their dinner, they all headed towards the meeting room.

"Ahh, I'm refreshed!" Sawamura shouted with a laugh as he stood in front of the door, swinging his left arm in circles. "I could go pitch some more after this!"

"Sawamura, you're in the way," and a swift chop was landed on his head, courtesy of his friend's brother.

"Get in there already hyahaha!" And there was the finishing kick from his roommate, sending him tumbling into the room.

After more goofing off and abusing of Sawamura, Chris finally had all members of the team in the room, including the coach and other advisors of the team. Clearing his throat, Kataoka caught everyone's attention, "What did you want to discuss?"

Chris began flipping open his notebook to the part where Rin began taking notes. "I have some information that will benefit the team for the upcoming games to Nationals."

"Is that what Mizushima Rin was doing during practice?" Rei asked with a knowing smirk and adjusted her glasses.

"Oh, you remember her?"

"How could I not?"

They exchanged looks that confused everyone even more.

"What is going on?" Jun exclaimed. "I'm so lost!"

And that started an outburst from the majority of the room.

"Ah! She's my classmate! You know her too?" Sawamura pointed at the team's scout who only continued smirking, as if knowing something that he doesn't.

Miyuki rubbed his chin in thought, "Mizushima Rin… Now why does that sound familiar?"

"Anyways, I'll start with Sawamura," Chris held up a hand to stop the commotion and began reading off the notes. "Your arm's not swinging down enough when you're releasing your pitch. Also you're, and I quote: 'Too loud for unnecessary reasons, and have a weird pitching form that you're not utilizing correctly, which leads to your terrible ball control'."

Chris looked up to see Sawamura with the most dejected look on his face. "Chris-senpai…" he whined. Everyone else in the room bursted into laughter or attempted to hold it in as Sawamura stomped over to the upperclassman.

"I'm just quoting what she said."

"Let me see that!" Sawamura's depression turned to anger as he snatched the notebook which Chris willingly offered to prove his innocence.

The laughter slowly died out as they watched the first-year read over the notes, waiting for his reaction so they can pick on him some more.

"What… What is this language?!"

"Are you so stupid you lost your capability to read?" Miyuki snickered, getting up from his seat to have a glance at the notes too.

"I really can't read this!" Sawamura waved the notebook in the catcher's face.

Miyuki peered at it for a minute before sweatdropping, "What is this chicken scratch? Chris-senpai, can you actually read this?"

Kuramochi cackled, "Maybe he can't read it either and just made up the part about Sawamura sucking because that's what he really thinks!"

After many jeers and taunts, Kataoka silence the room just by taking the notebook and skimming over it. "How much do you trust the notes taken by this girl?"

"She has been the best manager I ever had in junior high and I trust in her ability one hundred percent. I think she'll be the perfect addition to the team and would like to recruit her."

Many members stared at him dumbfounded, whether it was the news that she was his manager at his previous school, or that he just stated he personally wanted to recruit someone, or maybe even both.

"I second that decision," Rei raised her hand. All eyes turned to her as she cleared her throat, "I've seen the way she interacted and contribute to her team a few years back, and I think her insight will benefit the team considerably."

"Ah!" Miyuki suddenly shouted. "She's that manager from junior high!"

"I'm surprised you forgot… With the way you guys went at it at every game…" Chris sighed, feeling a headache coming on just thinking about it.

After some thinking, Kataoka nodded his head in approval, "Have her meet me in the dugout the minute practice starts tomorrow, and I'll decide if she's capable." He rose an eyebrow when Chris didn't immediately respond.

"There's a slight problem though," Chris' gave the coach a sheepish smile as he searched for the right words. "I still have to… negotiate with her about her enrollment in the team…"

For the lack of better words, Chris needs to find a way to convince someone who doesn't want to be the team's manager, to be the team's manager.

* * *

**Whoo! Congrats! You've reached the end of the first chapter **I've got some big plans for this story so we'll see how long this will take ;P

I hope nothing was too confusing and there weren't any typos. I've looked over it so many times but I could have missed something so let me know

**Thanks for reading :)**

Reviews/constructive criticism are appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

I write fanfiction for my own amusement because I'm lame and watch too much animated shows and read too many fanfics and play too many games and want to cosplay too many things at the same timg and my friends think I'm lame but they're lame for being my friends** \- true story**

**Thanks for all the reviews/faves/alerts :D**

**It's more than I thought I would get 'cause my friends don't watch Ace of Diamond T.T  
They're laaaaaaaaaameee haha**

* * *

"Mizushima Rin! Join the baseball the team as our manager!"

"Chris-senpai wasted no time, I see," Rin sighed before turning away and ignoring Sawamura's request, waiting for their teacher to start the class.

The moment she stepped through the school gates that morning, she felt something weird. At first she thought it was her imagination, but she could feel lingering glances as she made her way to class. "Is there something on my face?" was the first thing that came to her mind, but when she finally looked around to see who's been staring at her, she recognized many of the faces who immediately turned the other way when she made eye contact. It was, of course, Seido's baseball team.

"They know… Dammit Chris-senpai. I know I shouldn't have let my guard down. This is like a repeat of my first year in junior high." Rin cried silently to herself. Back then, Chris had somehow found out she had a knack for organizing and instructing baseball. He had let it slip to the rest of the team and they began bugging her every moment of her life until she agreed to join.

She had told herself she would just mess around with them for a week or so, until they get bored of her, but she ended up contributing more to the team than she imagined. Thus began her three years of being the baseball team's manager. Her job wasn't too dreadful (she'll rarely admit she had fun), but she felt like she should concentrate more on her future once she started high school, instead of focusing on other's goals. Yet by some strange coincidence, she found herself attending the same school as Chris again, the guy who started it all.

Now she's trying to convince herself that she's dreaming, and that there was no way everything from junior high was repeating all over again.

"Rin-san-!"

"Sawamura, quiet down! Class is starting!" The teacher scolded him from the front of the class, which made the boy slump into his seat.

"The attack is already beginning," Rin thought to herself as first period started.

Sawamura had confirmed her suspicions earlier when she entered the classroom. Before she could even sit down, the boy had greeted her with his demand that she join the team, causing many stares.

"I just have to ignore it and they'll give up on me joining. You can't win just by annoying me this time. Sawamura might have a lot of energy, but even he'll get tired and give up eventually." With that final thought to herself, Rin pulled out her textbook and began following along with the lesson, ignoring the determined stare from her right side.

* * *

"What? You were a baseball manager in junior high and you didn't tell me?" Haruno huffed accusingly. "I thought we were friends."

"Sorry, Haruno, we are friends but I didn't want anyone to know," Rin held her chopsticks with her teeth while putting her hands together as a sign of asking for forgiveness.

It was finally lunch time and Haruno took the chance to ask Rin what Sawamura was shouting about earlier. In fact, the whole class was curious, which is why some of them kept glancing at the girls to try to catch a part of their conversation.

"I guess I can forgive you…" Haruno averted her eyes in mock anger as Rin grinned and continued eating. "But I would like to know why you didn't want people to know."

Rin tapped her bottom lip with her chopsticks as she stared at the ceiling in thought, "Well, after I graduated from junior high, I decided I wouldn't be a manager again when I entered high school. So I thought if I didn't mention it, no one would ask. Of course I ran into Chris-senpai who was the one who convinced me to be a manager in the first place…"

"Really? I want to know more!"

Rin sighed, "Do I have to?"

"I don't know if I can forgive you anymore then…"

"That's so unfair," she groaned but Haruno only grinned.

"It started during my first year in junior high. I often stayed after school and watched our sports teams because many of my friends were players, so we would always get together and go cheer them on. Well, one time we went to go watch a friend who was on the baseball team. After the game, we met up with him and he introduced us to Chris-senpai…"

**-may the flashback consume you-**

"You guys did great!" One of the girls in the small group gushed as they all surrounded the pair with endless compliments.

"Haha, Chris-senpai has been helping me a lot so it's all thanks to him," Kouta grinned widely with a small blush to his face from all the attention. "You too, Rin-chan! Thanks for helping me with my pitching for this game, even if it was just a scrimmage." The blush on his face darkened as the group began giving him teasing looks.

"What's this? Rin and Kouta have been hanging out without us?" One of the guys snickered.

"I-It was nothing like that!" Kouta protested. "I just asked her to have a look at my pitching form since she knows more about baseball than the rest of you! A-And sometimes I couldn't ask Chris-senpai or my other teammates because they were busy!" By now his arms were waving all over the place as his friends and teammate began laughing at him.

"Kouta, stop freaking out. You're making it sound like you're hiding something," Rin sighed as everyone continued laughing.

"Oh, so she's the friend that you mentioned?" Chris asked as he turned towards the smaller girl.

Kouta nodded his head and took a hold of Rin's wrist, pulling her closer to them. "This is Mizushima Rin!" He introduced happily. "She's the reason I was able to make it to the first-string!"

"Kouta, you're loud," Rin rubbed the ear he was practically shouting in before turning to her upperclassman.

"It's nice to meet you."

**-random thing to let you know it has ended-**

"So that's the first time you met Chris-senpai?"

"Mhm. He praised me for being able to deal with Kouta and then invited me to watch their next practice, so I did. Apparently ever since Kouta joined the team, he blabbed about me helping him so Chris-senpai wanted to meet me to see 'what unfortunate soul has to deal with this over energetic dork'. Those were the exact words from him, too."

Haruno giggled at Chris' choice of words as Rin continued.

"So the first time I went to watch practice, Chris-senpai sat with me and asked what I thought of the team, so I just gave him a brief analysis of each player I saw. He kept asking me to come back and pretty soon, I had a notebook and pen every time I went to "watch" practice. I started refusing his offers of going to practice, but then members on the team kept asking me to come back, especially Kouta. Let me tell you, that boy doesn't know how to quit." Rin took a breath to blow her swept bangs out of her face.

"They asked me to be the official manager, and after days of being bugged and followed everywhere I go, I agreed. I thought they would get tired of me if I gave them harsh training menus and critiques, but it only made it worse when I tried to quit. They literally picked me up and put me in the dugout, and surrounded it so I couldn't leave until I agreed to stay. And that's the story of how I became the manager of my junior high baseball team: Stalked and held captive."

Haruno looked at Rin in awe. "Wow, you must be really good if they went through all that to make you stay."

Rin had a dumbfounded look on her face, "No, Haruno. You're supposed to be appalled, not amazed."

"But you can't ignore their perseverance."

"Too much perseverance if you ask me…" Rin grumbled at her friend not seeing her dilemma. "The thing is, if Sawamura knows, that means Chris-senpai told the team about me. He might seem nice, but under that gentle face is a cunning man."

Haruno waved her warning aside before eagerly asking for more. "Why didn't you want to be a manager?"

"Being around sweaty, smelly guys isn't my idea of a great use of my free time. But…"

"But?"

A nostalgic smile appeared on her face, "It wasn't too bad. I had fun sometimes. If everything went according to plan, and there was less than normal whining about my training methods."

"It can't be harsher than Seido's training methods," Haruno said. "Why don't you be a manager again? You have experience already, and we can be in the same club!"

Rin frowned, debating whether she should voice out her reason for the first time. "Well… It might sound stupid… but I don't want to play against Kouta. We're childhood friends and been through a lot together, especially since we were in the same year and on the same team. I know his style of playing and habits, and he knows what I pay attention to for my notes. It would just be kind of depressing if we had to play against each other… like we just threw away everything we accomplished together. He did ask me to join him at his school but I'd rather not go that far just to be a manager."

"Ah, pitchers are such egotists no matter where you go."

"I know right, Haru-?" Rin paused. That wasn't Haruno's voice.

The girls looked up to see Miyuki standing by their desk with a wave, "Yo."

"What do you want, Miyuki?"

Rin's tone made him stop waving, yet the shit-eating grin never left his face.

"Miyuki Kazuya! Let's go to the bullpen right now!" Sawamura shouted upon seeing the catcher.

Miyuki ignored him while pulling up a chair next to the girls and sat on it backwards with his arms propping his head up. "Oi, we haven't seen each other in over a year and this is how you greet me?"

"Knowing you, you probably didn't even remember me till Chris-senpai said something."

"Glad to know you remember me though, heh heh~"

"I want to smack that stupid smile off your face so bad," Rin's mumbled, hand twitching as she said that. Miyuki noticed it and quickly pulled his face away from Rin. "And your shitty personality has gotten worse too." She added.

"Why thank you! I've been practicing in case I ever see you again," he snickered as Haruno leaped up to pull Rin back from pouncing on him.

"If you're here to ask me to join too, then I'd like to tell you your method is not working!" Rin growled as she tried to break from Haruno, who was now joined by Sawamura. "Rin-san, if you kill him, there will be one less person to catch my pitch when Chris-senpai refuses!"

"Why is that your priority? Miyuki sweatdropped.

The few students who remained in class for lunch could only look at the four in bewilderment. Rin was struggling to escape her confinement while letting out a string of curses, Haruno was behind Rin with her arms wrapped around her waist in an attempt to hold her back, Sawamura had an arm out in front of Rin and would look like he was stopping her if he wasn't holding Miyuki by the collar at the same time, and Miyuki just had his hands out, pretending to be the innocent victim.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Everyone paused and turned to look at the door to see Chris. He made his way to his underclassmen while holding back his laughter. "What in the world are you guys doing?"

"Miyuki Kazuya's stupid face barged in-!"

"I just came by to give my greetings-"

"Is anyone going to help me practice before lunch is over-?!"

"Chris-senpai, they won't stop-!"

* * *

"Chris-senpai's amazing…" Haruno sighed tiredly. The third-year was able to quiet the group down with little effort, and right before the teacher came back to the room, too. Miyuki had left to go back to his class after his "greeting", and the rest of the school day went by without a hitch. Except the part where Sawamura started giving Rin forceful stares at an attempt to intimidate her, and she responded by flicking small wads of paper at him.

"You should know that he doesn't know how to give up," Haruno informed Rin right after the dismissal bell rang.

Rin shrugged and hopped onto her desk. "It's going to take more than that to make me cave in."

"But Rin-chan… it's kind of hard to ignore…"

Haruno looked at Sawamura nervously. The boy has been staring Rin down for the past couple of hours, and while she could ignore him, it was harder for Haruno.

"You're right. Idiots are hard to ignore," Rin muttered as she prepared to leave, but Sawamura heard her anyways.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!"

"You! I'm calling you an idiot! Leave me alone and go to practice, idiot!" She yelled back, about to step out the door, but walked into a hard chest instead.

"Son of a-"

"Oi, Mizushima."

Rin looked up, her hand still covering her nose from the impact. "Isashiki…"

There stood the vice-captain with his ever-present scowl, and right behind him were Yuki, Kominato, and Tanba.

"Don't "Isashiki" me! It's "senpai" to you!"

'Here comes another loud one…' Rin thought to herself while rolling her eyes. "Sawamura's still in there," she pointed her thumb at the room behind her as she walked past the upperclassmen.

"We're not here for Sawamura. We're here for you."

Rin stopped and turned around when the captain spoke up.

"Not you guys too," she sighed. "I already have Sawamura on my back."

"We're not forcing you into anything, but we would like to see why you're so highly praised by Chris," Yuki replied. "And then you can leave or do as you please."

Looking at his calm face almost made her agree, and her eye twitched when she realized what she almost did. "Why should I?"

"Are you refusing a request from your senpai?" Kominato gave his usual teasing smile which made the younger girl shudder.

Isashiki's scowl, Yuki's stoic expression, and Kominato's smile made Rin feel uneasy. Even Tanba, who hasn't said a word, added onto that feeling. Not only were they taller than her, but their intimidating presence made her feel even smaller.

And with that, Rin found herself sitting in the dugout of the baseball field once again.

"How did I get into this mess…?"

The four upperclassmen looked down at her, a hint of smugness radiating off of them.

"Ah, Coach, we brought her just in time for practice," Kominato nodded his head towards Rin as Kataoka and Chris approached the dugout.

Chris admitted he was a bit surprised they were able to bring her here on time, and it didn't seem like she gave them much trouble either.

"Why are you so persistent?" she sighed.

"Why are you so opposed?"

"Don't answer my question with a question."

The other five just looked back and forth as Chris and Rin went at it. They've never seen Chris so determined before unless he was in a game.

The verbal war came to a halt when Chris' cellphone began to ring. Without even glancing at the caller who interrupted, he handed the phone to Rin. "It's for you."

Rin peered up at the phone cautiously, yet she slowly accepted it and pressed it to her ear.

"...Hello?"

Kominato hummed in wonder as they walked away to give her privacy. "Do you think your plan will work?"

Chris nodded. "It's the only thing keeping her from joining. I think I asked the right person…"

"Why do you want the little runt anyway?" Jun scoffed. "We have you and the other four managers already."

They still weren't sure why Chris is so set on this particular girl. Sure she seemed knowledgeable about baseball, but so did the other managers of the team. Even if she took great notes, it's not like any of them could read her illegible handwriting anyways. In fact, it took ten minutes for all of them (excluding Chris) to decipher one sentence.

"She'll amaze you with what she can do. Just give her a chance."

They were quite startled when he turned around to bow to them.

"You already have my approval," Kataoka spoke up. "If you're being this persistent, then it's for a good reason."

Tanba cleared his throat, "I trust your decision. You don't do things without a purpose."

Yuki gave the smallest hint of a smile, "I also trust your decision, especially when it comes to the team."

"Things will get interesting and I'd like to see how it will play out," Kominato added.

"Tch stop bowing already," Isashiki rubbed the back of his neck. "We already agreed to help, geez."

Meanwhile with Rin…

"Rin-chan!" The voice called out from the other side of the phone.

"…Kouta? Is that you?"

"Good! You still remember my voice!"

Rin could only imagine the boy bouncing around as he talked excitedly and she smiled, "It's only been a few months, you dork."

"I know, but I miss you!" There were sounds of metal hitting and light chatter, so she assumed he was in the locker room. "So you ended up going to Seido with Chris-senpai? If you wanted to go to a baseball centered school, you should've came with me!"

Rin sighed, "I keep telling everyone: I only chose Seido because it was the closest to my home, and I didn't know they had a big baseball team or that Chris-senpai attended here. How many different people do I have to tell?"

Kouta responded with a laugh, "How did you not know that Seido's known for its baseball?"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it from you, too." She let the boy mumble a few things about how "oblivious" she is before she interrupted. "So, did Chris-senpai ask you to call?"

"Hehe, you found us out!"

"There's nothing to find out if you make it so obvious, like calling _his_ phone instead of mine for example."

"Ah? Are you jealous I called his phone instead of yours?" Kouta hummed teasingly.

"Kouta," she groaned. "If you have nothing important to say, then I'm hanging up." As she moved the phone away to end the call, she could hear him cry out.

"Wait Rin-chan! I'm just messing with you! Don't hang up! It's important! Please! Rin-chan! Don't hang up! Rin-chaaaaaaan- Ow!"

Another voice could faintly be heard on the other end, but Rin could make out that he was scolding Kouta about being too loud and that he should get to practice.

"Rin-chan, are you still here?!"

"I'm still here so stop yelling already. Whatever you're going to say, make it quick."

"I will, I will! One sec…"

She could hear a light ruffle of clothing, which was probably Kouta changing into his uniform.

"Couldn't this have waited till after practice so you're not trying to multi-task and be late?"

She could practically hear the grin on his face, if that was possible. "Glad to know you care! But this is important, so hear me out until I'm done talking… Chris-senpai called me last night. He told me everything. Like how you wrote some notes for him, but still refused to be a manager for the team. Honestly, I was kind of happy you refused because I don't want you managing anyone else but me… But at the same time, I felt guilty."

"Kouta…"

"On the day we graduated from junior high, I was disappointed when you told me you didn't want to follow me to high school just to be a manager. But I thought it was okay as long as you weren't with another team because I didn't want to ever play against you. But ever since Chris-senpai asked me to convince you to join, that's all I could think about today... Hey, Rin-chan, did you know…?"

"Know what?"

"That you've always looked your best when you're carrying out your manager duties… Wait- not that you don't look your best when you're not! I-I just meant you look better when you are, b-but you're still alright when you're not! I mean you're more than alright-!"

"What are you even trying to say?" Rin had a good laugh as he kept attempting to correct himself before finally calming down.

"I just feel like you always look happier when you're helping out the team. You're usually not serious about anything in particular, but when you're performing your duties, you just look so… Like… Ah I don't even know how to explain it! I give up! All I'm saying is that I want you to manage Seido's team! It feels bad just thinking about us going against each other, but at the same time, I want to see how much better you've gotten, and I want you to see how much I've grown too. Plus, we can see each other at the summer tournament… Damn, I have to go! Captain's going to be mad if I don't get to practice soon! I'll e-mail you or something. Bye Rin-chan! See you at the tournament!"

"I haven't said anything about joining yet-!"

But the energetic boy had already hung up.

* * *

**We should all take this moment to thank for having these horizontal lines. I like them. They help me separate my thoughts xD**

**Reviews and everything and anything are always appreciated ;D  
Just because I love them.  
Because who doesn't love them? ;P**


	3. Chapter 3

**-hands out Miyuki plushies for all the readers-**

**Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/faves! :)**

* * *

After the call from Kouta, Rin went to find Chris to return his phone, and then she left to go home after requesting that he give her some time to think things over.

"Why does _everyone_ want me to join?" She complained, tossing her completed homework into her bag and throwing herself onto the bed. "From an opposing team too… I even forgot to ask what school Kouta attended…"

She peered at the clock on her wall. "Not even seven yet…" She snatched her phone off her dresser and began swiping across the screen until she found a game. "This will do."

Her fingers smashed against the screen as she slashed zombie after zombie, releasing her frustrations through the game. "Die, Seido Baseball Team… Die…"

She was so caught up in the game that she didn't hear the knock at her door.

"Heh heh, this one with the beard is Isashiki…" She grinned wickedly as she slashed its head off, and continued assaulting its motionless body even after she reaped the awards of defeating it.

"Nee-san…"

"Oh, it's a shorter one. Kominato, you midget twat, this is you." And once again, she continuously attacked the zombie long after it was "dead" and there was no purpose of attacking it, other than her own satisfaction of pretending it was the third-year's body.

"Nee-san!"

"Glasses? Do zombies even wear glasses? Well, you're now Miyuki. Take that you cocky bastard! Let me wipe that stupid smirk off your face for you. There's a reason you couldn't beat our baseball team in junior high-"

"NEE-SAN!"

Startled by the sudden intrusion, Rin jumped up to a sitting position and dropped her phone, resulting in the zombies defeating her. "Tch, it just had to be the Miyuki zombie who ate me too… Oi, Shou-chan, haven't I told you to knock first?" She scowled at her younger brother of two years who stood in her now open doorway.

"I did, but you were cursing too loud to hear," he scratched his cheek. "Can you come with me to the batting cages?"

"What, you didn't get enough practice at school?" Rin teased, jumping off the bed to ruffle his hair.

Shou huffed and turned his head away. "I have to keep the first-string standards high."

"You're too cute, Shou-chan," Rin snickered. "Go grab the equipment and I'll meet you at the front door after I change."

She closed the door after him and shrugged off her school uniform for a baseball style tee, shorts, and longer socks. After checking to make sure she had her phone and keys, she made her way downstairs to meet Shou.

"Kazuki-nii, Akio-nii, Haru-nii! Shou and I are going out!" Rin yelled to her older brothers who were somewhere within the house.

"Don't stay out too late!" Kazuki, the eldest, yelled back.

"We won't!"

With that, the siblings headed outside. As they locked the door, Rin looked up at their house. It was fairly large compared to the average family home. And with their parents always gone for business trips, the interior seemed even bigger for the five of them.

"Shou-chan," Rin observed him as they started walking to the batting cages twenty minutes away. "Did you get taller again?"

"Hm?" Shou glanced at his sister before grinning. "I guess I did. Not too much though, if that makes you feel any better."

"Gee, thanks," Rin snorted. Their three older brothers were almost two meters tall, while Shou, the youngest was still growing and already surpassed her in height. "God, I think I'm even shorter than Kominato."

"You mean the "midget twat" you were killing in your game?"

"Yeah, that one… Please don't repeat that if you ever meet him."

"Are the people you were pretending to kill the reason you've been so moody?"

Ah, leave it to Shou to always jump right to the point. Rin grumbled, "Yesterday I found out Chris-senpai goes to Seido."

"That third-year catcher who asked you to join as manager in junior high?"

"Mhm. He wants me to be manager of the Seido team now, so he told everyone on the team about me and now they're bugging me to join. He even called Kouta who tried to convince me too!"

Shou tilted his head in thought as they entered the batting cages. "Why don't you just join then?"

"Hah?" Rin looked at him dumbfounded. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am on your side, which is why you should do it… It's not like you're good at anything else anyway…" he mumbled the last part, but Rin heard him and gave him a light punch on the arm.

The pair found an empty area, and while Shou began warming up, Rin prepared the video camera.

It's not a secret, but only a few people know that the reason Rin is knowledgeable about baseball is because of her little brother. From a young age, he showed interest in the sport and began playing as soon as he could. And Rin, who had nothing better to do with her life, spectated all his games and began reading and researching about the sport to help him improve. Even now, she's still the first person he goes to for assistance.

"Let's start with a nice ninety kilos per hour," Rin called out to him. After making sure the camera was steady on its stand, she began setting the speed on the machine.

"Are you serious? That's nothing!" Shou protested as he pulled on his gloves.

"You want help or not?"

Shou mumbled something under his breath but nodded in agreement as he took his stance.

"We'll start at ninety and I'll move it up by five kilometers per hour every twenty swings."

The nod from Shou signaled that he was ready and Rin pressed the button to start the machine.

Little did they know, they captured the attention of someone familiar nearby.

* * *

"You need to pace yourself more," Rin stated as she replayed the video. The siblings were now sitting on the bench while Shou catched his breath. "You'll have trouble in real games if you get tired that quickly."

"It's not like I'll swing that much in a real game anyways," Shou protested.

"Oh?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "What happened to keeping the standards high?"

"…Shut up…"

Rin giggled at his pouty expression. Even though he's the youngest in the family, he's always been the most serious one. But he occasionally makes childish faces which his siblings tease him about whenever it arises.

"Nee-san, if you manage Seido's team, I'll go there."

"I had a feeling you would bring that up," Rin sighed knowingly while petting his hair. "You're only in your second year; you should think about it more. You can't just follow me to high school like you did with junior high. Wherever you go can decide your future."

"Says the one who chose her high school by its proximity to home," Shou snorted.

"Shut it, kid."

* * *

The next morning, Rin entered the school gates with a loud yawn and stretched her arms, not caring about how unladylike she currently appeared. "I told Kazuki-nii we wouldn't be out too late but we didn't leave until one in the morning," she groaned, trying to rub away the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Hey, watch out," was all Rin heard before she felt a hand tugging at the back of her collar, stopping her in place. She opened her eyes to find herself face to face with the school's brick wall instead of the open door a few feet away.

"Oh," she mumbled, turning around ready to thank whoever saved her, until she saw who it was. "Miyuki…" she sighed. The cocky brunette was the last person she ever wanted to express gratitude to. Well, he did save her face after all… but that stupid smile just made her want to walk away instead.

He continued grinning and raised his eyebrows as if to say "I'm waiting".

After much clenching and unclenching of her fists, Rin finally muttered out, "…Thank… You…"

"No problem. Wouldn't want our new manager to ruin her pretty little face," Miyuki stated which made Rin choke.

"I haven't agreed to anything!"

"You might as well though!" Miyuki laughed and walked away with a wave.

"Why is he so weird?" Rin asked herself as she watched him disappear behind the school doors.

"Mizushima." Another voice called from behind her.

She turned around once again to see Kominato this time. "Mornin'." The corners of his lips curled upwards just the slightest, but Rin didn't miss it at all.

"Good morning," she replied. Kominato nodded, as if in approval, before walking past her. "By the way, you shouldn't be out so late. Especially on a school night," he laughed lightly and made his way inside.

Rin visibly twitched as his words processed through her sleep deprived mind. 'How does he know? Was he there? No, he stays in the dorms so he wouldn't walk all the way out to the batting cages when he can train right here. Then how does he know? Did he follow me? Maybe he just assumed I was up all night since I look like this?'

Dozens of questions ran through her mind while she had a different expression and gesture to match each one of them. Needless to say, students made sure to keep their distance and walk around her as they quickly made their way inside the school doors.

"Mizushima, you munchkin!" The gruff voice of Isashiki snapped Rin out of her conversation with herself. "You really got some nerve…"

"H-hah? What did I do?" Rin didn't know whether to stay and withstand his wrath now, or run away and endure it later. She decided she'd rather take it later and looked left and right, hoping to find an escape route. But it seemed she didn't have a choice as he soon approached; the ground shook with every step he took until he was barely a foot away from her.

"So, you refused the amazing offer from your senpai, and then you go and coach some dweeb?!"

-skipping to class time 'cause the spitz can yell forever-

"How do they know?" was the single question running through Rin's mind throughout class. With her head resting in her left hand and her right hand scribbling furiously, her sleepiness was no longer an issue.

To everyone in the room, it seemed like she was taking thorough notes. But when Sawamura peeked over from her right side, he could distinctly see diagrams and pictures along with her barely legible writing. He may be an idiot, but even he knew whatever she was drawing had nothing to do with their current English class.

Curiosity got the better of him, so he decided to lean closer to her desk and hopefully not regret it. "Psst Rin-san, what are you doing?" Sawamura whispered.

"Calculating time and distance…"

"…Um… why?"

"Hey Sawamura, did you notice anyone from the dorm leaving between seven and one last night?" Rin asked, never looking away from her work, as she conversed as quietly as she could.

Sawamura shook his head no.

"Hmm…"

"Sawamura! Get back in your seat!" The teacher's scolding made the boy quickly jump back to his desk. He sighed as he turned back to the chalkboard and continued his lesson, "You should learn to take notes like Mizushima-san."

Sawamura's eye twitched as his classmates lightly giggled. "If only you knew what she's really doing," he thought to himself.

The rest of the day went by without any more scolding, but Sawamura eyed Rin warily from time to time. Not only has her pen never left the paper, but words like: "stupid baseball team" and "kill" were muttered occasionally.

It wasn't until the final bell rang that she snapped out of her murderous aura. She leaned back into her seat and sighed heavily, "I'm done."

"I'm a little afraid to ask, but what are you done with exactly?" Haruno approached her before Sawamura can. "I thought you were about to drill a hole into your desk."

Rin's head lolled to the direction of her friend's voice, her sleepiness finally catching up to her.

Before she could reply, a hand slipped onto her desk to snatch up her notebook.

"Hey-!"

"If you have the time to try to find out who saw you at the batting cages, you might as well use that effort for the baseball team."

"Chris-senpai," Rin grumbled, looking up to see him reading her notes almost happily. "Judging by that look on your face, you know who it was."

"Perceptive as always… when it comes to things like this anyways," Chris said the last part under his breath.

Rin reached out for her notebook but Chris held it higher. She almost stood up at an attempt to grab it, but remembered that it would be useless due to their height difference, so she settled for crossing her arms instead. "Fine."

"Oh?" Chris looked at her amusedly.

"You weren't going to give it back or tell me who was at the batting cages until I agreed," she simply stated, looking away with a sulky pout. "I dropped my guard around you again…"

Chris held out his free hand and Rin stared at it for a few seconds before finally shaking it; sealing the deal. Meanwhile, Haruno and Sawamura looked back and forth, trying to decipher what they were talking about.

"You gave in much quicker this time."

"Shut up. Give me back my notebook and tell me who it was."

"Wait a minute," Haruno started. "Does that mean-?"

"You're joining, Rin-san?!" Sawamura exclaimed, his hands slamming down on her desk and a huge grin stretched across his face.

Haruno and Sawamura cheered loudly while Rin looked away from the excited pair.

"Just for future references," Chris began, silencing them. "If you ever have any information that she wants, exchange it for something you want from her."

Rin growled at Chris, though her sulky expression was still present. "We shook hands on it. Tell me."

He placed the notebook in her awaiting hand. "Tetsu was the one who saw you. He's one of the few who don't live in the dorms and he goes to those batting cages every so often."

"Ah the captain… Sly bastard. I didn't even see him there…" Rin put her hand to her chin in thought.

Haruno chuckled as her friend continued thinking out loud. "Maybe you're just oblivious to your surroundings like usual, Rin-chan."

"I resent that comment."

"Rin," Chris grabbed her by the shoulder, interrupting her advance on her poor friend. "The first day of training camp starts tomorrow. You still have to prove yourself to the coach and the team, so take advantage during the camp."

"Yeah, yeah. See you guys tomorrow. Let me go home and enjoy my last day of freedom." With a heavy sigh, Rin tiredly packed her belongings and left the room with her classmates cheering loudly behind.

The moment she stepped out of the school gates, realization hit her. "Wait a minute… Why do I have to prove myself even though I was the one getting pestered to join?!"

* * *

**A little bit shorter than the last two chapters but I think it's a good place to end it before going into the training camp.**

**Miyuki's one of the those characters I feel like I can't rush into, so I hope you have the patience for this :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this one took a while. I swear the manager in charge of making our work schedule has way too much fun with it ._. Crazy managers, crazy hours, crazy customers, crazy coworkers, crazy everything lol**

* * *

Second Week of June- First Day of Training Camp

"More like first day of hell," Rin snorted while shrugging off her uniform for her t-shirt and shorts.

"Let's have fun together, Rin-chan!" Haruno grinned from beside her.

While Haruno was ecstatic her friend was going to be in the same afterschool activity as her, Rin was still sour that she had given in so easily, yet she showed up to practice the next day just like she promised.

"You know we won't be around each other much since I'll be with Chris-senpai and the coach, right?"

Haruno nodded, "But it's still nice to be here together." Her cheerful smile made Rin sigh; she just couldn't stay grumpy with Haruno's innocent face beaming at her.

"Let's go before we're late," Rin mumbled, ushering her overly happy friend out the locker room. They went their separate ways as Haruno went to help her upperclassmen prepare everything, and Rin went to look for Chris in the fields.

As she arrived, the first-string players were already practicing with the help of the rest of the team. One section of the field was set up with cages and nets for batting practice, and another was bordered by fences for catching. "I'm expecting more than this if they're going to call this a training camp," Rin mumbled to herself. "It looks like regular practice to me." After looking around a bit more, she finally found Chris who was with the four pitchers. He smiled in greeting when he saw her approaching.

"The coach is busy with practice, but I told him and the team everything," Chris informed her. "Just stay with me today and help me with the pitchers." He nodded towards Furuya who just missed an easy catch and was getting yelled at by Maezono.

"Oh boy…" Rin deadpanned at the scene. "Can I do things my way or do I have to run everything by you?"

"Let me know. You're my responsibility until you prove to everyone you're capable and knowledgeable."

"Maybe they should've done their research on me before making me join first. You know, just saying…" Rin rolled her eyes.

Chris peered down at her, "Watch your mouth. I'm still your senpai."

"Sometimes I want to strangle you."

"You first-years are such a handful," Chris sighed and rubbed his forehead, making Rin grin in satisfaction before turning back to Sawamura and Furuya who were getting an endless scolding from Maezono.

She examined the way they scampered around the field, obviously clueless about their task. Sawamura's head spun left and right, trying to figure out what he's supposed to be doing, while Furuya had the slowest reaction to the ball ever.

"Please tell me those two didn't make the team by just pitching alone," Rin's stared incredulously. Chris' silence confirmed her suspicions and she couldn't help but to smack herself in the face.

As the first-year pitchers continued scurrying about, Maezono took a break and jogged over to Chris and Rin. "Those two haven't improved one bit," he sighed.

Chris agreed. "They won't get any better when they have to think about it."

Rin scoffed, "Forget that. They're moving around like they've never even played the game before." Her statement immediately earned her glares from the two pitchers who somehow heard her from across the field.

After glancing at Chris for approval, he nodded which Rin took as her queue and waved for the two to come over. As soon as they were within distance, she reached up to smack both of them on the head.

Furuya clutched his soon-to-be bruise while Sawamura did the same with a shout of: "What gives?!"

"Sawamura…" Rin said his name calmly, yet with the most deadly venom laced to it.

He quickly silenced himself as she gripped his shirt and pulled him to her level. "You did _not_ try to make me join the team these past couple of days, just to show me this performance."

The poor boy stumbled over his words as Rin pulled Furuya down too, and continued her lecture about everything that was wrong with them. Tanba, Kawakami, Chris, and Maezono could only watch amused, as the smallest person on the field began damaging the egos of the most uncontrollable pitchers ever.

Tanba leaned over Chris to whisper, "Was she always this blunt?"

"Pretty much… Tanba, Kawakami, go in the bullpen first."

At the mention of the bullpen, Furuya and Sawamura instantly turned to Chris, pointing to themselves. "Wait, what about us?"

"You two are going to do this until you perfect it."

Their reactions made Rin snicker and she released the boys.

"After this, you're going to catch outfield fly balls," Chris continued. "Then you have to throw back to the plate afterwards. Got it?"

As Chris began explaining the importance of their training menu, Rin couldn't help but doze off and flipped open her notebook instead, writing down notes for the pitchers so far. Next thing she knew, she heard Sawamura yelp as he jumped to catch a ball… and completely missed.

"What the hell are you doing, Sawamura? You better not do that in a game!" Maezono yelled louder than ever.

It was like a never-ending cycle.

"We've got a lot to work on…" Rin stated. Her upperclassmen beside her sighed in agreement.

* * *

As the sun started to set, Haruno and the other three managers brought out food, signaling a break before evening practice. It was also the time that Kataoka made Rin stand at the front and formally introduce herself, to which everyone shouted back a greeting and continued devouring the food.

While the players relaxed before their next training regimen, Kataoka looked over the notes and potential practice menus Rin wrote and grunted in approval. "I'm expecting a lot, from what Chris has told me."

"_Ugh, way to raise the bar for me,"_ Rin groaned silently, glaring at Chris who was looking over her notes with Rei and Oota.

"Well Chris, you are in charge of all the managers," Oota started. "Where would you like to put her?"

Chris smiled, having already thought everything out. "She'll work with the entire team overall, but I'd like to have her focus more on the first year pitchers."

"Wait a minute," Rin interrupted. "Why the pitchers? You know my specialty's batting."

"Our batting line-up is strong this year and consists of mainly third-years who have experience." Chris explained. "Tanba and Kawakami are doing alright, but Sawamura and Furuya need all the help they can get." He looked to the adults who also agreed that it was the best decision. "Plus… I'd rather you yell at people in your own grade rather than offend your upperclassmen."

"Tch…" Rin crossed her arms. "I don't offend anyone."

Chris gave her an unconvinced look. "Right… of course… Also, working with the pitchers means working with the catchers, too..."

It took a moment for it to register in her mind. Once it did, she completely flipped, causing the adults to quickly make their exit, telling Chris they'll leave everything in his hands.

"Why? Of all people!"

"Just try to get along with him."

"I'm beginning to think joining the team has more cons than pros."

Chris mussed her hair, "We made a deal. Mine was a long-term investment while yours was not."

* * *

The field lights have replaced the sun long ago, yet the team had just barely finished the first day of their training camp. Everyone was panting heavily as they stepped off the field, even the experienced second and third years, but of course, the first years were the most worn-out.

The other four managers had left after feeding the team and Chris left before them for his daily training with his father. Meanwhile, Rin had just finished recording the times of each player's run during the drills, and followed the rest of the team out.

"You could've gone home before evening practice with the other managers."

"Ah the one person I want to see the least," Rin muttered, looking up from her notebook to see Miyuki leaning on the fence wearing his signature smirk. "My work requires more time and I'd rather not do a half-assed job," she simply replied and continued walking past him.

Miyuki snickered and pushed himself off the fence, "That's exactly what I thought you'd say."

"What?"

"Let's go," he fell into step beside her as they neared the school gates.

"Go?" Rin questioned. "Um, your dorms are that way, you dork." She pointed behind her.

"I know," he simply stated, taking her by the wrist and increasing their pace. "That's why you should hurry up so I can return as soon as I can. Which direction do you live in?" he asked as they step into the empty street.

Rin stumbled out a response while she continued letting him lead her through the dimly lit road, not that she had a choice. Her home was usually a twenty minute walk from school, but being pulled into his pace, it seemed she'll be getting there sooner tonight.

"You don't have to walk me home, you know," Rin muttered.

"…I can't let you walk alone at this time of night…" Miyuki spoke up. "It's not safe."

Rin's eyes widened at his statement. _"Did he really just say that?" _She could only stare at his back dumfounded._ "Well, I guess even someone like him can have a few positive attributes. It somewhat makes up for his twisted personality."_

Her shocked expression continued burning into him, until he tilted his head back, still keeping his pace while his eyes met hers.

His gentle appearance suddenly changed to his usual grin, "After all, Chris-senpai asked me to walk you home and I'd rather not get in trouble with him. Heh heh…"

Rin rolled her eyes. "Just being around you annoys me."

"Why, thank you!"

"_Why did I even expect anything out of this guy?"_

* * *

"Your foot's not high enough… That wasn't even close to the strike zone… You're throwing too high… You just walked the batter… Are you even trying?" Rin pointed out after each pitch.

"GAHHHHH!" With a loud roar, Sawamura threw his next ball as hard as he can at the net.

"Stop!" Rin called out and he paused right before he was about to grab another ball.

Calmly walking over to Sawamura, Rin raised her notebook and gave him a good whack to the head, sending him to a sitting position on the ground. "Calm down," Rin sighed as the boy gave her a pitiful expression. "Your ball control is bad enough and it's even worse when you're frustrated."

"Ah! I'm still tired from yesterday!"

"Stop yelling and starting throwing like you mean it!"

Sawamura stood up while Rin plopped back on the ground and continued observing his pitching form. Chris had said she would be working with the first year pitchers, but to her, it felt more like he dumped his babysitting job for Sawamura on her.

It was only the second day of the training camp, yet Chris had her following and taking notes on Sawamura during most of it. The only time she wasn't with him was when they had group practice like fielding or running.

Rin sighed as Sawamura threw another ball completely out of the imaginary strike zone in the net, "If that's your best pitch at the beginning of this training camp, I don't want to imagine what it'll look like at the end of it when the exhaustion catches up to you."

Cue another shout.

"So, what do you think?" Chris approached and stood beside Rin.

"His power's decent, but I can't say the same for his control. Here." Rin held her notebook open above her head for him to look at; revealing many pictures of Sawamura's pitching form clipped to the pages. "The differences are hard to catch, but if you look closely, you'll see his form is different every time before he throws the ball."

Chris hummed in thought as he flipped through the many pages filled with just pictures of Sawamura and a small note next to each one. "So how do you want to fix this?"

"I think having him throw continuously into the net is helping a bit. He's still off but it's definitely better than when he first started," Rin grunted has she struggled to keep her arms up for Chris to continue swiping through the pages. "I honestly can't tell if he's thinking too hard about it, or if he's not thinking at all. The important thing is to have him pitch naturally, so having his body become familiar with the movement is all we can do for now…"

"I agree…" Chris nodded and began pointing to each picture he couldn't see the difference in. "What's wrong with the top left picture on the second page?"

Without even bringing the notebook down to look at it, Rin quickly answered, "His foot was raised three centimeters higher than when he threw his perfect pitch."

"I see… What about this one? Middle right picture on page ten?"

"He pulled his arm back for half a second longer and it ruined his timing."

"…Ah… and the bottom right one on page six?"

"He stood two centimeters farther than usual."

At this point, Chris deemed she was definitely too observant when it comes to baseball. Not that it was a bad thing, but it certainly creates a problem conveying her notes to an idiot like Sawamura.

"Are you done? My arms are getting tired," Rin complained, bringing him out of his thoughts. He lifted his hand off the notebook to signal he was done as she brought her shaking arms down.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Rin exclaimed, jabbing her finger as close to Chris' face as she can while sitting down. "Don't you ever make Miyuki walk me home again!"

He sighed. "I'm not going to let you walk alone in the middle of the night."

"Anyone but him then."

"I've already asked him to do it for the remainder of the week."

"Why would you do something like that?!"

A small smirk made its way onto Chris' face, which went by unknown to Rin, who had started yelling while pacing back and forth.

Chris admits she's definitely observant and good at making use of information, but for him, she was too easy to predict and manipulate, as proven when he convinced her to be a manager twice already.

"Chris-senpai, I'm done." A panting Sawamura approached him, pointing at his empty bin which was once filled with baseballs. "Um, is Rin-san okay?"

They both looked at the small girl who was still ranting to herself about a certain "useless catcher" while waving her arms around occasionally.

"She does this a lot. Just let her cool off and she'll be fine," Chris chuckled, but Sawamura looked unconvinced. "Just be glad you haven't seen her completely lose it…" he trailed off as he finally went to calm her down.

"Rin," he called out to the girl, placing hand on her shoulder. "I have an offer for you then, since you don't want Miyuki walking you home."

She eyed him suspiciously, hands still hanging midair from her outburst, "…What is it…?"

Chris almost wanted to smirk. Almost.

"Stay in the dorms for the remainder of the training camp."

* * *

**If I had a penny everytime I called Sawamura an idiot in this story and then deleted it cause I realized I typed it too much... oh god lol**

**But yeah, I freakin love Chris. Such a good-natured guy... that's why I had to make a character he can pick on xD**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Been neglecting this poor story :(  
**

**As always, thanks for all the reviews/faves/follows! And I hope you like this chapter as well :)**

* * *

"Stay in the dorms for the remainder of the training camp."

Chris had said it so casually that it took a moment for Rin and Sawamura to process it.

"Are you crazy?!" Rin screeched at the same time Sawamura yelled: "Is that even allowed?!"

"It's fine as long as she's not rooming with any of the players. Plus, I've talked it over with the coach and he agreed since that way she can be here for morning training."

Rin was completely speechless. Just how much influence does he have on Kataoka? How did he get permission? And why does it feel like he planned this by using Miyuki to walk her home?

But suddenly, a thought popped into her head. "Kazuki-nii would never allow it," she said smugly, crossing her arms as if taunting him.

Mizushima Kazuki: Rin's eldest brother; an overly protective one at that.

Just thinking of his reaction to her living with a whole team of baseball players made Rin mentally wince, but right now, he's the only excuse she could use to get out of staying in the dorms.

"Oh, I already have his permission."

Or so she thought.

And with that, Chris walked away without another word, but a victorious smile on his face, and Rin could only gape at his retreating form. "W-wait…" She collapsed to the ground. "What's going on?"

Sawamura looked pitifully at her shaking form as she clutched her head in her hands.

* * *

Rin paced back and forth behind the storage shed with her phone held to her ear.

"Pick up already," she muttered. Evening practice was about to start, so she used her free time to attempt to get ahold of her brother. After what seemed like the thousandth ring, he finally picked up.

"Before you say anything, let me explain," Kazuki spoke in a hushed whisper. He looked around the kitchen he was currently occupying, and after deciding that the coast was clear, he began speaking again. "Mom came back this morning right after you guys left for school."

"Hah? Really? She's already back from her trip?"

"Yeah," he sighed. Setting his phone on his shoulder, he continued on the pastries he was making, kneading the dough quite roughly as if venting out his frustrations on it. "Chris called me earlier about having you stay in the dorms for the week. I opposed, but right as I did, mom heard and took my phone and agreed to it… and you know she always gets her way."

Rin heard pounding sounds, and could only imagine her brother punching the living daylights out of whatever he was making. "She picked the wrong day to be back," she groaned, leaning her head against the shed. "Where is she? Let me talk to her."

She heard her brother's soft footsteps and the opening of doors as he looked for their mother, but it ended in a sigh. "She's not here. You know, I actually haven't seen her since she was in your room, and it's been a while since then-"

"The hell was she doing in my room?"

"She could be on her way to you as we're speaking."

"No!" Rin hit her head on the shed. "I'll talk to you later. Practice is about to start."

They hung up, both hoping that their mother stayed as far away from Seido High as possible.

Already changed into comfortable clothes, Rin tucked her phone safely in her pocket before making her way to the practice field.

* * *

She felt her right cheek become strangely numb. It never occurred to her when it began, but she was suddenly aware of a presence next to her who she believed to be the culprit.

"Mizushima, stop daydreaming and do your job." The older Kominato drawled, continuing to poke her cheek.

Rin sighed and continued to ignore him, which is apparently what she has been doing the past ten minutes except she wandered too far in her thoughts to realize it. Her task was to take notes on the outfield practice today, but instead, she has been sitting in the dugout with her head resting on her folded arms over a propped leg, and her gaze lost into the distance.

What was going through her mind? A million different scenarios of what would happen if her mom showed up at her school and none of them ended quite nicely.

"I-Impossible," Rin laughed shakily, as if trying to convince herself. "She probably just went out to shop or something… Yeah, that's exactly what she's doing right now because she's my mom and I know her…"

"Mizushima-"

"I know, I know," Rin sighed, standing up. "I'm going to the field now."

"No, actually, I was going to say it seems like you have a visitor." The pink-haired boy pointed to the dorm entrance, where a woman was quickly approaching them from. Her long, wavy, blonde tresses bounced with each step she took, and her clean outfit definitely set her apart from the dirt cladded athletes around her.

"Rin-chan!" She called out, waving her hand excitedly.

Rin shook her head in horror. "I spoke too soon…"

"Someone you know?"

Before she could answer, she was smothered in the arms of the woman. "Ah I've missed you!" She squealed, capturing the attention of the players nearby. "How are you doing in school? Are you getting enough rest? Is Kazuki feeding you well? Oh, speaking of Kazuki, he's still being overly protective of you…"

Maybe they were just imagining it, but the team could've sworn they saw Rin's soul drift away from her seemingly lifeless body, the only movement coming from the woman's own motions.

"I just finished meeting with Chris-kun and the coach, and I already put a bag of everything you need for the week in your dorm room," she continued on in a joyous manner before nuzzling her cheek against Rin's. "Ah, it's been a while since I've seen you coach. Don't be too hard on your boys, okay?"

That seemed to have pulled Rin back from her stupor. "Mom, I'm not "coaching" and they're not "my" boys," she grumbled.

"That's what you said back at Marugame, too," Mizushima Naomi gave her a knowing smile as she reminisce over her daughter's middle school days, and Rin rolled her eyes in response.

"I'm not staying here, even if it's just for a week."

"But I went through the trouble of packing everything for you!" Naomi protested with a childish pout. "And I just got done tidying up the room, too!"

"I already have to deal with these loud, sweaty, weird boys all day. I don't need to be with them at night, too."

Many ears picked up on a few certain words, but they continued with practice, pretending they didn't hear a thing.

"Oh, come on," Naomi waved her off. "What's the difference between them and the ones you live with at home?"

"I only have to deal with four at home," Rin flatly stated.

She knew her mother always had her way no matter what, but this time, she was determined to stand her ground.

"Well, look at the time! I don't want to miss dinner! See you soon, Rin-chan!"

Or not.

With that, she took off as fast as she came, but not before taking a quick glance at the players on the field. With a wink and wave to Rin, who was reaching out for her with a dropped jaw, Naomi disappeared out the school gates, and not even a minute later, Rin's phone buzzed and she took it out to reveal a text from her mom.

You got yourself a nice handful of  
good-looking guys here ;)  
Have fun sweetie! 

It's bad enough Naomi's carefree and somewhat childish nature often attracts unwanted attention, but Rin would've died of embarrassment if anyone saw the message as well. Fortunately, everyone was still on the field.

"'Good-looking" my ass," She grumbled a few curses under her breath before quickly stuffing her phone back in her pocket.

A soft snicker right next to her ear sent a shiver throughout her body, and it was at that exact moment, she realized that sound will forever haunt her dreams.

"Now what can I gain from this?"

"_Damn it! I completely forgot he was still here!" _

Rin turned to face Ryosuke's smug face and slowly backed away from him. "…What do you want…?

He hummed lightly, practically bouncing on his feet.

Rin gulped nervously, awaiting his response- prepared to do something she'll regret just for him to keep his mouth shut. But after a while, he shrugged and began making his way back to his teammates. "Well, I guess I won't tell anyone… for now. I'll let you know when I think of what I want."

And he was off with a wave. A very pompous wave- as Rin silently noted. With her notebook in hand, she was about to follow him, but she was nearly thrown back by the roar erupting from the field.

"Mizushima! Who the hell do you think you're calling "loud"?! HUH?!"

Rin rubbed her ears at an attempt to stop the ringing, as the one and only Spitz-senpai returned her glare with his own.

"Jun-san, you forgot "sweaty" and "weird"!" Kuramochi chimed in with a snicker.

"Shut up! You're making it worse!" Rin yelled back, tempted to chuck her notebook at his head.

Chris who had just returned, watched the bickering team with a satisfied smile on his face. "She fits in just fine."

* * *

Rin exhaled loudly as she began unpacking the bag in her temporary room, feeling frustrated yet relieved at the same time. Frustrated that she was somewhat forced to stay here, but relieved that her mother packed exactly what she would need. "This wouldn't have happened if I didn't let myself get tricked into joining again," she laid on the floor with a huff. "Stupid Chris…"

According to Chris, this room was one of the few built for coaches and advisors who needed to stay overnight sometimes, but the rooms were rarely used that they've just been sitting around. It was the same as any of the other rooms in the dorm; the only difference was that it only had one bed and had its own bathroom, which Rin was quite thankful for. Having the guys walk in on her in the bath, or vice-versa did not play out very pleasant in her mind at all.

"Just ask Chris-senpai to catch for you."

"I already did and he politely declined! …Don't ignore me!"

At that moment, Furuya and Sawamura decided to have their squabble right outside of her room; probably over who got to ask Miyuki to catch for them again. Rin clicked her tongue at their rivalry as she clumsily rolled herself onto her feet.

"Ah I'll unpack the rest later. I just want a bath right now," Rin hummed over their voices as she began heading to the bathroom, stripping her clothes into a trail on the way.

* * *

Miyuki sighed as he watched Kuramochi and Nakata yelling excitedly over the game they were playing. Meanwhile, Yuki was busy setting up his shogi board, and Isashiki was groaning about a massage.

For some reason, this was all happening in his room.

And now, not only does he have to deal with his teammates using his room as a hangout spot, but the two first-year pitchers kept demanding he catch for them the moment he left the bath.

"_I just can't catch a break, can I?" _He thought to himself then laughed dryly at his own unintentional pun. _"They had to be carried back to their rooms after practice, yet they still want to pitch? Well, if still have that much energy left over, they should be fine."_

The moment he heard his door open, his face lit up.

"You guys are late. Get in here already!" Isashiki demanded and Miyuki immediately approached the confused first years at the door.

"You guys are full of energy right? Can you take care of them?" He pleaded them quietly enough so the others couldn't hear; exhaustion was evident on his face. "They come over every night and I'm really tired-"

"First-year, come massage my feet!" Isashiki growled impatiently.

"Sawamura, go get me juice!" Kuramochi shouted, not even looking away from the screen, followed by Nakata asking for one too.

"Miyuki, let's continue from where we left off yesterday," Yuki announced, finally finished setting up the board.

Miyuki laughed nervously at his request.

"Can you play shogi?" he quickly asked, and a nod from Sawamura was all he needed before he ushered the boy to sit in front of their captain.

"Oi Miyuki! I thought we were going to the bullpen!" Sawamura protested, but a greeting from the captain sent him straight back in his seat. "Why is everyone here anyway?"

"Tetsu-san and Nakata stay in the dorms during the camps, Jun-san asks me for a massage every day, Kuramochi and Nakata are gaming buddies," Miyuki listed off as his eyes trail after every person in the room before stopping at his bed. "…Why is Masuko-san sleeping in my room…?"

He cleared his throat, "But you know, you should take this time to learn about the people who play defense behind you, right?"

Sawamura and Furuya stared at him in amazement as they witnessed the first decent words to leave his mouth. Even though he teases and criticizes them endlessly, it seems he really did care about their development in the end.

"Well…" Miyuki gripped the doorknob as the two tilted their heads. "Take care of things here! I'm going to sleep in Zono's room!"

The door slammed shut as Miyuki's cunning laugh reverberated in their ears.

"That damn bastard! He ran away!"

"I can finally get a goodnight's sleep," Miyuki grinned happily as he made his way to Maezono's room. Just imagining his pitchers squirming over their upperclassmen's every need made him all the more relieved it wasn't his job tonight.

Opening the door, he was prepared to walk into some peace and quiet for once, and get the rest he needed… But instead, he was hit with a force just as loud as his room.

It seemed other upperclassmen decided to make this room a hangout as well. In fact, none of them seem to notice the extra company at the door, except for Haruichi and Maezono, the only ones who even belonged here. They looked to Miyuki with pleading eyes, but the catcher just slowly released the doorknob and watched the door close on its own.

Staring at the shut door, Miyuki wracked his brain for options. Everyone he actually conversed with is either in his room or Maezono's room, so their own rooms are left empty which means he can't let himself in. So his only options are to either go into one of those rooms and attempt to sleep through the noise (which he already deemed impossible), or he can sleep outside in the nice, welcoming dirt with no pillow, blanket, or air conditioning.

His recently bathed body told him 'no' to the last one.

Just as he was starting to head back to his own room in defeat, he stopped in his tracks.

"Why the hell didn't I think of that earlier?" He chuckled to himself as he turned back around and headed towards the opposite direction to the very back. "There's only one person in this dorm right now who has the room all to herself because co-ed rooming is not allowed… Well, risks have to be taken sometimes."

* * *

**I intended to make this much longer but you guys waited long enough :P**

**Trying so hard not to torture my oc's too much lol you already know I have too much fun messing with them**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm alive! I promise I'm alive!**

* * *

The drinks dropped from the machine with a soft clunk as Miyuki bent down to retrieve them, humming to himself as he made his way to Rin's room.

If you listened close enough, you could hear the boys in the Seido dorms goofing off in their rooms instead of resting like they were supposed to. Normally Miyuki would be right there with them, but the camp was wearing him out and he'd rather get a good night's sleep for once.

When he arrived at her door, he took a breath and murmured a quick prayer for his safety, and then he rapped the door lightly. After a while with no response, he tried again, but was met with the same answer.

"There's no way you're already in bed this early." He stared questioningly before twisting the doorknob, and it opened with ease. He stepped inside to find it completely empty except for the furniture and a bag with various clothing stick out of it. Miyuki sweatdropped as he surveyed the room and found a trail of more clothes leading from the bag to the bathroom, where he assumed Rin was due to the light peeking from under the crack. "You just got here and it's already a mess…"

After kicking off his shoes, he placed the drinks on the nightstand before jumping in her bed with his arms resting under his head, deciding to take a quick nap until Rin was done. She was sure to wake him with either a scream or impaling him with an object; maybe even both.

Miyuki grimaced at the thought, but closed his eyes anyways. He didn't get very far when a buzz followed by a soft tune sounded next to him. Tilting his head towards it, he came face to face with Rin's phone, the light signaling she received a new message.

"Ah knowing her, she'll kill me if she finds out I went through it." Miyuki pondered, but then realized he has already signed his life away the moment he invited himself into her room, so might as well. After all, he had every right to stop whatever's distracting him from his nap.

He found that her phone was just as easy to get into as her room. "Are you serious? Not even a password?"

He immediately went to her messages to see who the sender was. "Kouta?" He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, must be that same Kouta who pitched for Marugame Junior High she was always with."

Miyuki had many thoughts as he went through their conversation. First of all, it seemed the conversation was pretty much one-sided because Rin hasn't replied to any of the three hundred messages he sent during the past two days. Second, who the hell sends three hundred messages within two days when the other person isn't even responding?

He found himself scoffing amusedly as he scrolled through the messages Rin ignored. "What an annoying guy… Kind of like Sawamura… Probably just as stupid, too."

* * *

Rin let out a relaxed sigh as she resurfaced from the bathtub. "No baseball boys and no brothers… Bath time is the only part of the day I get any alone time."

Shaking her wet hair from her face, she pulled the plug from the tub before stepping out to dry herself. With a towel wrapped around her body, she grabbed another to dry her hair with and stepped out the bathroom to retrieve some clothes.

Just as she bent down to her bag, she paused. _"Is it just me or is there something here that wasn't here before…?"_

She slowly turned her head right to look at the presence on her bed, and blinked owlishly at him.

"Miyuki," she started calmly; too calmly. The boy could only smile nervously, her phone still in his hand.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"You're pretty brave to keep your door unlocked in a dorm full of guys," was his only response, but the smirk was quickly wiped off his face as her hair towel was dropped to the ground and Rin leapt onto the bed faster than he could dodge. She had one hand locked on his wrist in the air which held her phone, while her other pinned down his free hand onto the bed.

"H-hey, at least put some clothes on first before you jump me!" He stammered, a light pink tinting his face as he tried to look anywhere but her barely covered body. Sure he was used to getting lots of attention from females, and he has had a few girlfriends, but he never had a half-naked girl throw herself at him on a bed before. Even though he knew she meant it in the least sexual way possible.

Now it was Rin's turn to smirk. "Oh? Is the great Miyuki Kazuya getting flustered?"

"Have some modesty, will you?" He grunted, struggling to break free, but her grip was stronger than he thought, and it didn't help that her legs were restraining his lower body.

"Tch, you're one to talk." She shook her head in disbelief, letting water drip from her hair to his face. "Breaking into my room and going through my phone sets a great example."

"To be fair, you left both of them unlocked."

Rin's grip tightened as Miyuki visibly winced.

"Don't even bother trying to break free; I've wrestled four brothers my whole life," Rin threatened. "Now, would you rather be choked to death or stabbed to death?"

"_What did I just get myself into?"_ Miyuki stared at her incredulously. "Um… is there an option that doesn't involve death?"

"No. What the hell are you even doing in my room? We'll both get in trouble if someone finds out you're here in the middle of the night."

Miyuki sighed and explained his situation of not getting enough rest in his room. By the time he was done, Rin had already decided to release him long ago, claiming it was too much effort holding him down. It totally wasn't because she was really thirsty and saw the drinks Miyuki had brought as a peace offering.

Rin swung her legs up and down on the bed with a drink in hand, "I know you want your rest, but I'd rather not get in trouble because of you."

She eyed Miyuki suspiciously when the cunning smile returned to his face, "As a manager, you should know the importance of getting enough rest. You should be taking your players' health in consideration."

"Don't tell me how to do my job, moron."

They sat side by side in silence for a while, the only sound coming from the occasional sip each of them took.

"By the way," Miyuki began; his eyes haven't dared to have her in his line of vision so far. "When are you going to put some clothes on?"

Rin grinned smugly, remembering the look on his face when she tackled him. "Why? Does it bother you?" She gestured to her towel covered body; her chest peeked out from the top and her bottom would be revealed if she took too big of a step. Normally, Rin wouldn't dare let anyone see her clad in just a towel, but witnessing Miyuki get embarrassed was definitely worth it.

After teasing him some more, she carefully got up to head back into the bathroom to change into actual clothes. Slipping on a comfortable tank top and shorts, she sighed as she began blow drying her hair, "I feel kind of bad for him, but that doesn't mean I'll let him stay…" she trailed off, ruffling her long hair to make sure it was dry before heading back to her bed… only to find the catcher passed out on it.

"You have got to be kidding me." Rin approached him, prepared to wake him up and literally kick him out of her room. But as her hand neared his shoulder, she paused. Miyuki had rolled over on the bed and was now facing her.

His glasses were slightly crooked, on the verge of slipping off his face, and his soft breathing brushed against her fingers. But most of all, his usual conceited expression was replaced by a rather calm and innocent face. Rin's hand stayed hovered over his form, while she had a mental conflict whether to leave him be or shove him off the bed.

"Damn it! Where did that stupid Miyuki go?" Sawamura's voice was distinctly heard on the other side of Rin's door once again, breaking her from her internal struggle. She quickly jumped away from Miyuki before opening her door, calling out to Sawamura who had just stalked past her room.

"Rin-san?" The brunette blinked at her questioningly before exclaiming, "Have you seen Miyuki? He was supposed to catch for me, but then he just left me with the upperclassmen in his room and ditched!"

During his rant about how "useless" the pitcher is, he missed the way Rin's lips curved upwards as she leaned against her doorframe. "Hey Sawamura, let me catch for you."

The boy didn't have time to question her, as she hurriedly shut her door before he could peek inside. It took only a few seconds as Rin reappeared with a catcher's mitt and notebook held under her arm, while tugging on her socks and shoes. Making sure her door was securely locked this time, she headed towards the indoor practice grounds with Sawamura trailing after her.

"I've already got notes on your pitching from different angles. The only point of view I'm missing is from the batter's and catcher's position. You're always so slow with your training menu that I never have time to record it." Rin explained as she set the container of baseballs next to Sawamura (who was protesting about her comment of him being slow), and then proceeded to stand in front of the net where the catcher would be.

He gave her a skeptical look as he noticed she didn't have any protective gear on, "Um, are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't, would I?" She raised an eyebrow like it was the most obvious thing. Still, that look didn't leave his face, even as she pulled her long socks over her knees and kneeled on the ground. But he had someone who was willing to catch for him at the moment, and that's all he wanted. "Give me one right down the middle," Rin commanded, holding out her arm.

Sawamura wasted no time connecting the ball in his hand to her mitt. The loud thud made a grin stretch across his face.

"That was terrible."

His grin was replaced with a scowl.

"Power's good but it was too high; would've been called as a ball," Rin stated while jotting the information down in her notebook. When she was done, she looked up again. "Inside," she commanded.

Once again, Sawamura attempted to control his pitch to where she wanted it, but Rin shook her head after catching the ball. "Still too high, and it's off to the side so you would've hit the batter. Pay attention to where the mitt is. The catcher shouldn't have to move this much to catch."

With another roar, Sawamura pitched once again.

This continued until they emptied out two bins, and then the pair began cleaning up.

"It's mainly your control, but it's not something we can fix overnight," Rin yawned as she dropped an armful of baseballs back into the bin. She didn't bring her phone or a watch, but she knew it was getting late judging by how sluggish her body was feeling.

"Does that mean you'll keep catching for me?" Sawamura asked excitedly with beaming eyes. His doubt of her abilities quickly changed during their practice, and Rin could've sworn she saw him grow a pair of fluffy ears and a wagging tail. Plus, he was still kneeling on the ground from picking the balls up, and it only made him seem more like an enthusiastic puppy.

Rin couldn't erase the image from her mind and burst out laughing, but nodded. "I'll keep catching for you as long as you keep trying."

Sawamura pouted while looking up at her, "What's so funny?"

"N-nothing," she giggled, holding onto her stomach. "You just kind of remind me of a friend."

"What's so funny about that?" He mumbled. "You're kind of insane, Rin."

"Oh? Since when did you drop the honorific from my name?" Rin pushed her hand onto his head, grasping his hair firmly but not enough to hurt him.

Sawamura growled in response.

"_Ah he really is just like a dog…"_

After an intense staring contest, which was broken by synchronized yawns, Sawamura and Rin finished cleaning up their mess and headed back to their rooms.

Or more like stumbling in Rin's case. "So sleepy… And we still have morning practice tomorrow… I should've refused to keep going after he cleared out the first bin…" she mumbled to herself, using the door as support as she fumbled with the lock. After god knows how long, she finally managed to unlock it. Kicking the door closed, she slipped off her shoes and dropped her belongings on the ground, barely making it to the bed before passing out.

* * *

**I love getting feedback and I assume you're enjoying the story so far :D I try to respond every once in a while but I'm usually hella exhausted but I really do appreciate it when you let me know your opinions!  
-hands cookie bouquets for all the reviewers-**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm alive! Sorry for the long wait! This one's a bit shorter than previous chapters, but I decided to end it where I did so you won't be left on a cliffhanger this time :)**

* * *

Haruno glanced at Rin frequently throughout class time. Usually, her friend would be spaced out in her own world, and snap out of it occasionally to jot down a few notes before dozing off back to her daydream. Though she was still staring at the same spot on the board today, her gaze seemed to be more… ferocious. Haruno also noticed how their teacher instantly turned back around every time he made eye contact with her, while Sawamura was paralyzed in his seat. The poor boy made the mistake of crossing paths with her when she walked into the classroom in the morning, and he has been stuck in his seat with wide eyes the whole day. Even the constant kicks to his chair from Kanemaru couldn't revive him.

When the bell rang, all their classmates rushed off to their usual activities like always, while Haruno nervously approached Rin's desk, now that her expression was a little less threatening.

"R-Rin-chan…"

"Hm?" Rin's eyes narrowed as she turned to whoever interrupted the killing spree going on in her head.

Her glare dissipated when she noticed it was Haruno giving her a hesitant smile, "It's t-time for p-practice. Let's go get ready!"

Rin hummed in approval as she gathers her belongings and headed out the door. Though she was walking at a slower pace than usual, Haruno was a step behind her, trying not to worsen her bad mood.

They left the school building without a single word, changed in the locker room in silence save for the rustling of clothes, and by the time they exited the room, Haruno couldn't handle it anymore.

"Rin-chan!" She called out to her back.

Rin paused, "What is it?" She looked back at her friend who was near trembling, and that was enough for Rin to rush to her side. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm okay!" Haruno laughed nervously. _"I just never knew you could be this scary," _She thought to herself, placing a hand to her racing heart. She almost had a heart attack just to muster up the courage to get her attention. "I'm just wondering if you are. You've been kind of… tense all day."

"_In fact, I think Sawamura-kun's still in his seat. He'll probably die sitting there..."_ Haruno averted eye contact as she silently said the last part to herself.

"Tense?" Rin raised an eyebrow as if to ask her to elaborate.

Haruno darted her eyes everywhere but at Rin, feeling small under her gaze even though the latter was a fraction of a centimeter shorter, "You just seem not yourself today. Like something is bothering you… Did something happen?"

"Did something happen?" Rin repeated. A grimace shadowed her face as she remembered her morning; the same event that has been playing over and over again in her head all day.

-earlier that morning-

Rin sighed in content as she snuggled her face deeper into the warmth of her covers, cherishing the moment while it lasted. The little voice in the back of her head always told her she'd regret staying up late the night before, but of course she never listened. So here she is once again, barely awake while calculating the shortest amount of time she can get ready, in order to stay in bed longer.

"Hey, if you don't let go soon, I won't be able to leave without someone seeing me," Rin's covers spoke, its breath brushing against her hair.

She leaned back.

And her hand was immediately crushed against the intruder's face.

"Mi-yu-ki."

Every syllable in his name was pronounced with absolute venom, and the boy desperately squirmed to free himself from the confines of her hand and the wall.

"What the hell are you still doing here?!"

"Stop trying to kill me!" Miyuki protested as best as he could against the palm that was depriving him of oxygen.

"Who said you could get in bed with me?"

"Technically…" he gasped for breath as he finally escaped, snatching his glasses off the dresser and dashing to the other side of the room. "…you got into bed with me," he finished off with a smirk, and Rin wanted nothing more than to claw his face off at the moment.

But prison didn't seem like a pleasant place, so Rin rose to a standing position on the bed and responded with chucking a pillow to his face instead, which he easily caught. "You were supposed to be gone by the time I got back!"

"Maybe you should've paid attention to who you were jumping in bed with!" Miyuki countered with a smirk and flung her pillow back at her, which she also caught, and threw back along with a second pillow. The abuse of the pillows continued for a while, as well as the exchange of accusations.

Miyuki was still composed by the time Rin was running out of breath, and the grin on his face grew as he peered up at her panting form, knowing it was the perfect time to strike. But before the pillow could leave his hand, a knock at the door halted their actions.

"Well, this isn't good," Miyuki muttered, suddenly remembering that he was supposed to leave earlier.

"Mizushima!" Maezono's rough voice called from the other side.

The second set of knocks snapped Rin out of it as she leaped off the bed and sprinted towards the bathroom, grabbing an unprepared Miyuki by the collar on the way.

"Don't make a single sound," she whispered harshly, shoving him inside and slamming the door shut before he could protest.

Maezono was starting to grow irritated by the lack of response. First, he couldn't find the cocky catcher and nobody he came across knew where he was. Now he's at the door of the last person he has yet to ask, and she was probably still sound asleep. "Oi! Mizu-!"

The door slowly opened, revealing the much smaller first-year, looking up at him innocently. "Ah, Zono-senpai. Good morning." She ended her greeting with a yawn, realizing how tired she actually was from lack of sleep, now that the adrenaline from the squabble has ceased.

Maezono's expression softened as he watched her rub the sleepiness away from her eyes. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"It's okay," Rin waved it off to show she wasn't upset. "I needed to wake up soon anyways. Did you need something?"

He warily eyed the pillow gripped in her other hand, feeling a tad guilty, thinking he had rudely awaken her from her slumber. "Have you seen Miyuki?"

"No, I haven't seen him since practice yesterday." Rin mentally gave herself a pat on the back for playing it off so well.

"Well, thanks anyway. I'll see you later." Maezono gave a slight nod before jogging off and Rin closed the door, sighing in relief.

Just as she thought about releasing Miyuki from his confinement in the bathroom, he decided to waltz out by himself, humming without a care in the world and the pillow still in his arms. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the glare aimed at him. "What?"

"Who the hell gave you permission to let yourself out? What if Zono was still here and saw you?"

"Relax. I heard him leave," Miyuki stated.

Rin exhaled heavily, calming herself before trotting over to the catcher.

"What is it now?" He asked, suspicious of how calm she was, when just a few minutes ago, she had attempted to murder him via pillows.

Rin stood right in front of him, silently cursing that she didn't even reach his chin, and looked up.

"Screw you," she simply stated, finally successfully smothering his face with a pillow.

-beep boop. back to the present-

"Rin-chan? Did something happen?" Haruno questioned again when she didn't answer.

"Nope, nothing at all. Probably just still tired from last night!" Rin laughed it off.

Haruno decided to let the topic go, considering it was the first time she has seen Rin smile all day, and they continued their light chatter as they began making their way to the baseball field.

"That was your mom yesterday right? I can see some resemblance."

Rin blinked, "You think so?"

Haruno nodded happily, glad that her friend wasn't glaring daggers anymore. "I can see where you get your pretty looks from!"

Rin full out gawked at her this time, along with pointing to herself awkwardly and her other hand doing some strange motion. "You… think I'm pretty?"

"Well, of course," Haruno tilted her head in confusion, wondering why she was so shocked. Perhaps she had low self-esteem? Maybe she didn't get compliments like that often? Or maybe- Wait, did she think she was hitting on her?!

Suddenly, Haruno's face bursted into a flaming mess. "Ah, Rin-chan! I-I didn't mean it like that!" She exclaimed, waving her arms around frantically. "I wasn't trying to hit on you! I'm sorry! It wasn't supposed to come out this way!" Haruno's attempt to correct the misunderstanding only left her feeling more embarrassed. It didn't help that a few of the baseball team members were also on their way to the field and caught a glimpse of the pair's antics as they passed by.

"…Pft…"

"Huh?" Haruno slowly opened her eyes to see Rin with a hand over her mouth, trying to conceal her face before she finally exploded in laughter.

"Haha, it's okay, I know you didn't mean it that way." Rin gasped for breath before continuing with light giggles, wiping the light tears that had gathered up in her eyes. "You just kind of surprised me."

Haruno pouted, "You didn't have to laugh."

"It was funny how you freaked out though. Sorry." Rin apologized with a playful smile.

Haruno sighed, knowing she couldn't stay mad at her. "Is it that uncommon for you to receive a compliment?"

Rin tapped her chin in thought, "Well, anything related to physical appearance, yeah. Oh, except my family, but they don't really count."

"That's true. Hm, what about boyfriends?"

"Ah, I don't have any luck with guys."

"Really? I'm surprised."

"I'm not," a new voice snickered from behind them.

Rin fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Why the hell are you always around me?"

"Maybe you're the one that's always around me," Miyuki just gave her his signature grin and jogged off to practice.

"He annoys me so much," Rin huffed, kicking a small pebble, silently wishing she kicked it hard enough for it to hit the catcher.

* * *

**Haruno seems like a reliable friend so I like to include her more :) Wish she got a little more actual screen time though**

**I plan on finishing this story out, so when updates are slow, I probably have writer's block. ****Like, I have all this stuff planned out for the story, but what I get stuck on is how do I transition to it without rushing? :O**

**Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad so many people actually read this! haha**


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